In 2019, I was tapped by my friends at Vans Skateboarding to help revive a pointless and long-defunct skate contest called “The Downtown Showdown.”
The new-and-improved Showdown debuted at the iconic 2019 Vans US Open of Surfing—a week of surfing, skating and BMX that takes place each year in Huntington Beach, CA.
Working independently, I developed a flexible system that broke each letter and message down into an inverted checkerboard pattern, very Vans-y. I utilized astrobrite copy paper to bring the system to life in physical spaces.
I also created a package that invited each participant to the contest which included a beach bag, towel, chair, bucket hat, shirt, koozie and reef-safe sunscreen.
The icing on the cake, however, was that I was asked to design the trophies for the winners of the event. Seeing these trophies come to life and be presented by Steve Van Doren himself was insane, to say the least.
